


A New Master

by tin2lo



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Azula is Korra's teacher, Azula is redeemed, post atla, pre lok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2019-01-05 21:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12197343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tin2lo/pseuds/tin2lo
Summary: Korra is about to start her firebending training which prompts the arrival of her new master, Princess Azula of the Fire Nation.Post-ATLA/Pre-LoK





	1. The Firebending Master

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I've always loved the idea of Azula (after a redemption arc) being Korra's firebending master. If Katara can do it, I don't see why Azula can't.

"For the last time, Zuzu, I'm not traveling to the South Pole."

Zuko groaned. He didn't understand why Azula was resisting this. He thought she'd be more willing. "I formally recommend you to the White Lotus to be the new Avatar's firebending master and you don't want to do it? Why not?" What happened to his sister's royal ego? She may have changed since trying to kill him all those years ago, but she still had that I'm-better-than-everyone-else attitude.

"You expect me, a princess of the Fire Nation, to travel to that frozen wasteland? And for what? To teach a  _child_? I refuse."

Zuko groaned again because as usual Azula was making things far more difficult than it should've been. To be honest though, Zuko had no one to blame but himself. It was his idea to recommend her.

The Order of the White Lotus had asked each of Avatar Aang's old masters to either teach or recommend a new master for the new Avatar, Korra. Before he died, Aang had requested his son, Tenzin, would be Korra's airbending master. By the time Korra mastered the other three and was ready to move on to Air, Tenzin would be appropriately experienced. Katara, despite her old age, was still a renowned master waterbender and so opted to teach the young avatar herself. Besides, Katara was probably the only teacher in the world who could handle the little 4 year old. Toph, like Azula, did not want to travel south and had preferred to search for enlightenment rather than teach again. She instead recommended one of her best earthbending students from her metalbending academy.

Now years later, Zuko had finally received word that Korra was almost ready to take her final earthbending test and once passed, would need to move on to firebending immediately. And being Aang's former firebending master, Zuko needed to send his recommended teacher south as soon as possible. Of all the people Zuko could've chosen to teach Korra, he chose his sister. Sometimes he still asks himself what possessed him to do that.

Azula gave him a harsh look. "I don't understand why you can't go and teach her. You've done it once already. And I know for a fact you miss that waterbender of yours."

Zuko couldn't help the blush on his face when Azula brought up Katara. "That's not the point. And Izumi needs me here. She's still new to the throne and the council still hasn't been convinced of a woman as Fire Lord."

Azula rolled her eyes. "Izumi can handle herself without you coddling her." Her niece was strong willed. Azula had no doubts she could handle herself as Fire Lord.

"Azula." Zuko's voice now had that firm tone that he saved for council members. If Azula closed her eyes she could almost swear she heard Ozai in there. "Please. For me?"

And in a blink of an eye, he was just Zuko again. Not a trace of Ozai. Her brother, who never gave up on her recovery and gave her a chance at redemption. How could she refuse him when all this time he believed in her? Believed in her so much that he'd recommend her to be the next avatar's firebending master? So Azula sighed, cursing herself for becoming soft over the years. "When does the White Lotus want me down?"

Zuko smiled at her. "Thank you…"

Before he could say anything else, Azula raised a hand to stop him. "But I am the master."

Zuko nodded and repeated. "You are the master."

"No one will tell me how to teach my pupil."

Zuko again nodded. "No one will tell you how to teach your pupil."

"And no matter what the White Lotus says, I will say if she's ready."

Zuko agreed. "You will always have the final say."

Azula was satisfied. "Good." Azula tried not to show how happy she felt at seeing Zuko smiling proudly at her.

It took a little more than a week for Azula to sail to the South Pole. It didn't help that her White Lotus escorts were so excruciatingly dull. She barely listened to them as they told her what the Avatar needed to learn. She was a princess of the Fire Nation. A true prodigy. She didn't need, let alone want, the White Lotus telling her how to properly teach firebending. She would do it in her own way.

And she proved that the moment she set foot inside the White Lotus compound where she was immediately received by Katara. Despite their past, the two women had, at the very least, a mutual respect for each other. And besides, Katara was the second person after Zuko to give her a chance.

Even so, after years of knowing each other, Katara knew better than to give tips on how to train Korra or advice to Azula. So niceties were quickly exchanged before Katara showed Azula to Korra's room.

It was early morning. The sun was still in the middle of rising. Perfect time to start training.

One moment Korra was soundly sleeping in her bed, the next she was being tossed and thrown onto the floor.

Before she could even register what was going on, her parka was being thrown at her as someone began yelling at her. "Rise and shine, water tribe peasant!"

Korra pulled off the parka that was thrown at her face and looked at the woman yelling at her. This woman was old, probably as old as master Katara. But she was intimidating and scary. But Korra wasn't going to show her fear, especially if this was supposed to be her new master. "I'm the avatar and you gotta…!"

She didn't even get a chance to finish. "Until you master all four elements, you're nothing but a mere water tribe peasant to me. So get up. It's time to start your firebending training. And I don't like to be kept waiting."

Azula turned her back to Korra to wait in the training area but Korra's whining stopped her once more. "But it's still dark out! It's too early to start training."

Azula didn't even turn around to face Korra but if she did, Korra would see her trademark smirk. "You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun."


	2. Lesson Number 1

"What's the big idea with making me train this early in the morning?" Korra was upset. Even master Tenzin didn't wake her this early for airbending training. The last time she ever had to wake up this early (earlier actually) was when she was with master Azula. And no matter what master Azula said, Avatar or no Avatar, she didn't "rise with the sun."

"The morning is evil." She whispered. Korra mentally laughed at her own inside joke as she thought of her firebendng master, the once evil Princess Azula. Well considering her training methods, she might as well have still been evil to Korra.

"We're the rookies so we get the worst time slot in the gym." Bolin answered as he caught the medicine ball she had thrown at him before tossing it to his brother.

"And you're the rookiest of us all. We gotta get you up to speed if we want to survive in the tournament. Deal with it." As Mako tossed the ball back to Korra, a flash of a not too distant memory came over her.

_Korra was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes that she barely registered a blue fireball hurling towards her. She managed to quickly dodge it in the last minute. "Hey! What's the big idea?!"_

_Azula seemed unfazed by Korra's anger. "Didn't you hear me earlier, peasant? Training starts now."_

_Korra threw back her own fireball which Azula dodged with ease. "My name is Korra. And I'm the avatar."_

_Azula could only yawn, completely unimpressed. This only angered Korra more prompting her to throw more fire. All of which Azula dodged without breaking a sweat. Still being only a newbie firebender, it didn't take long for Korra to tire throwing fire at Azula._

_Azula watched calm, cool, and collected as Korra took deep breaths. She slowly began walking towards the young avatar. "You lack restraint. You lack control. You lack power." She stopped as she stood directly in front of the still panting avatar. "All of which will get you killed."_

_Korra could only glare. "Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will. And the energy and drive to achieve what they want."_

_"So what is it you want from me?"_

_Azula rolled her eyes. "I want you to master firebending of course. I promised my brother I'd see you trained. But I can't train you unless you have that desire and will. Tell me, peasant, do you even want to be a firebender? Let alone the avatar?"_

_Korra stood proudly with her head held high. "Of course I do!"_

_Her trademark smirk was once again on her face. Azula held her hands behind her back as she circled Korra. "Good. Then for the next however many years or so, you'll obey everything I tell you to do. I am the master and my word is law. If I make you practice the same form for months at a time, you will do it. If I tell you to only work on breathing exercises, you will focus on that until you don't even remember how to breathe anymore. And if I tell you to be wide awake to greet the sun each and every morning, you will do so. Without question and without complaint. Am I understood, peasant?"_

_It was official. Master Azula would be the toughest sifu she'd ever have. She's heard the stories. During wartime, Azula had been good at breaking people. And it seemed that even now, she was going to put those skills to good use. But Korra wasn't going to be broken down. So she gritted her teeth and answered. "Yes, master Azula."_

_Azula stopped her circling to face Korra head on, smirk still in place. "Good. Let's begin with your breathing exercises."_

_"Breathing exercises?!" Korra asked incredulously. What happened to fire being the element of power? She wanted to know how to make stronger fire blasts and how to use fire to propel herself. Breathing exercises were for children._

_Azula gave her a hard glare. "Are you already questioning me, pupil?"_

_Korra looked away, still annoyed. "No master."_

_"It's best to understand this early on. You do what I say. Do that and we won't have any problems. Disobey and…" She stopped to light her palm with a blue flame. "…well let's just say you wouldn't be the first avatar to feel my flames." She let out a disturbing chuckle. "I'm the master here, Korra. And you'll just have to deal with it."_

"You deal with it!" Korra said as she roughly through the ball back at Mako. She was rougher than she should have been. Her toss was enough to put Mako on his back, maybe even bruise him a bit. But Korra didn't care. She still wore a smug smile on her face. Because even though it was Mako and not master Azula, Korra still managed to (finally) get a hit in.


	3. Bad Habits

Azula blew the steam from her teacup before taking sip. The warm tea felt nice going down her throat, especially in the middle of the frozen South Pole. You never do appreciate a good cup of tea until you're stuck in a frozen wasteland. Sweet Agni, she was becoming Uncle! What would Zuzu say? Before she could take another sip, she calmly took one step to the left and easily dodged the blast of fire that was aimed at her back.

She turned around and watched as her pupil was bent over with her hands on her knees as she breathed deeply. Azula just continued to sip her tea. "Tell me, pupil. Why is it that that we've been training for months now and yet you still can't seem to land a hit on me?" Azula paused and only heard aggravated grumbling coming from the young avatar. "I'll tell you why. You may know all the forms and technique, but what good is all of that when you can't even breathe properly?" She took another sip. "What have I always told you from the beginning?"

Korra stood up after her breathing regulated. She sighed, frustrated that she was about to get lectured again. "Fire comes from the breath…"

"Fire comes from the breath! Not the muscles! The breath becomes energy in the body…"

"Energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire," Korra finished the spiel for her with a roll of her eyes.

Azula glared at Korra. If the avatar thought she could get her lessons wrong and then sass her master, she had another thing coming. "Well if you

seem to know this information so well, why is it you keep getting it wrong?"

"I…"

"I'll tell you why." Azula finished the last of her tea before throwing her cup to the side. Before Korra even knew what was happening, a blast of blue fire was aimed at her face. She just barely dodged it without burning her hair or her parka. "It's because…" Another powerful shot. "I have yet…" Another shot that Korra barely managed to dodge. That one may have actually burned the tips of her hair a bit. "...to break…" Korra barely managed to block the final huge blast Azula shot at her. "...your bad habits."

Azula hadn't even broken a sweat but Korra was exhausted. "I...I'm sorry. I'll try to remember next time."

Azula sighed. "I suggest you do. The sooner you remember this, the sooner you'll be able to produce fire that might actually mean something against an opponent." She turned around and began to walk away. "That's all for today, pupil. Why don't you run along and freeze something or build a nice hut out of rocks, since you're obviously not ready for anything more advanced than that."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Korra was angry. She was angry at Amon for taking people's bending. She was angry at Tarrlok for pressuring her to join the stupid task force. She was angry at Asami for taking away the guy she had a crush on. And she was angry, so very angry, at the man she was currently aiming her water whips at. The man that chose another girl above her, Mako.

Mako had given up retaliating against her water whips with his fire. Now he just tried to block and dodge. "What's your deal?! We're just training! Are you  _trying_  to kill me?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry…" Maybe she should just tell him her feelings. Yeah, he was with Asami now, but she wasn't here and at the very least, admitting it might take some weight off her shoulders. "Listen, I…"

He didn't even give her a chance to finish. "I know you're stressed about the task force and Amon, but you shouldn't be taking it out on us. You need to focus or we're going to lose the championship! Why are you so angry anyway?"

At that moment, Korra exploded. Here she was trying to pour her heart out to him and all he could do was yell and criticize her. She just might actually kill him. "You wanna know why I'm angry?!"

"Yeah! What's your problem?!" Mako yelled right back.

"I...I…"  _Just say it, Korra. I like you._  "I hate your form!"  _What in the name of Tui and La was that?_

Mako looked at her incredulously. "What?!"

You know what? Now that she thought about it, his form did actually make her quite angry. Must be the Master Azula in her. "You heard me. I hate your form. I watch you firebend all the time in practice and in matches and it's so irritating how wrong it is!"

Mako just glared at her. "Well excuse me for not having the money to pay for expensive firebending teachers."

Korra shook her head. "It's not even about the technique. It's about  _how_ you firebend. Don't you know that fire comes from the breath? Not the muscles! Maybe if you actually breathed and let your chi flow naturally, you wouldn't be so tired after matches and after practices!"

Mako's jaw dropped as he looked at her incredulously. She did not just lecture him on how to firebend. He had been firebending all his life. He didn't need her, all high and mighty, telling him how to use his own element.

Before he could even retort back, they were interrupted. "Is everything alright here?" Asami asked as she and Bolin entered the training room.

Mako gave Korra one last glare before turning around and grabbing Asami's hand. "It's fine. Come on, we're going to be late for lunch."

Later on, when the team finally began the matches for the finals, the things Korra yelled at Mako were still in the back of his mind. So much so, that once the referee told them to begin, he paused to take some deep breaths, spending the first few minutes of the match practicing his breathing, surprising everyone watching. When he felt he was ready, he closed his eyes and let his chi move through his body before punching his arm.

The flame he created was bigger and more controlled and took a lot less effort than his usual blasts of fire. It was actually enough to push back one of the players past the line.

The crowd cheered over Mako's new, supposed "hat trick" as Mako smiled in pride. It was quickly wiped off when he looked over at Korra who had a smug look on her face.

Korra wasn't going to let him live this down. No wonder Master Azula never held back. Breaking people's bad habits was kind of fun.


	4. A New Skill

Korra took deep breaths as she had just finished her spar with Master Azula. "You held your own. Perhaps you're not so much of a failure after all." Azula said as she walked toward the sitting area.

Korra rolled her eyes knowing that that was the closest she was going to get to a compliment from her instructor. In truth though, Korra's firebending training was coming along nicely, not that Azula would say it out loud. Her form was clean and her breathing was even. She lacked speed and the complete power Azula knew she could be capable of, but those would come in time. For once Korra kept up with Azula in their spar without tiring too quickly.

"I can feel you staring, pupil. What is it?" Azula asked as she was taking a drink.

"Umm...Master, I was just...I wanted to know…" Korra didn't understand why she was so nervous.

"Spit it out, pupil. You know how I don't like mumbling." Azula said sharply.

Korra took a deep breath. "Will you teach me how to produce blue fire?"

Azula turned to her with a raised eyebrow. She was thoroughly surprised by the request. When Azula first produced blue fire, no one had questioned it. First of all, because she was a princess and she answered to no one. Second, she was a firebending prodigy and so naturally she was gifted with such power. This was the first time someone had actually confronted her about it.

"Do you even understand the meaning of holding blue fire?"

"Uhh…"

Azula walked towards her slowly, her palm lit with a flame. "Blue fire burns hotter than normal. It takes a person with great power to produce it and produce it effortlessly."

Korra looked at the fire in Azula's hand mesmerized before Azula closed her hand to extinguish it. "But I do have great power, don't I?"

Azula smirked. "Perhaps. But have you unlocked it yet?" Korra didn't answer. "Blue fire is not just a skill that I can teach you. It's about understanding your personal strength, your inner flame. What makes you burn? Blue fire is stronger than regular flames. Do you have the willpower to control it? And can you manipulate its strength?"

Korra was confused. "But I thought you said fire doesn't come from anger?"

Azula sighed and rolled her eyes. "And that's why you can't produce fire that's blue. Anger is not the only thing that makes a person's inner flame burn."

She turned around and began walking away, but a question from Korra stopped her in her tracks. "What makes  _you_  burn?"

In all Azula's years, no one had ever forced her to become truly speechless. Though she was shocked at the question, she never let it show. She didn't even turn around. "My brother…" she said at barely above a whisper.

Korra's eyes widened. "Your brother? Lord Zuko? Why? Or how?"

Azula turned to face her. "I don't need to explain myself to you, pupil, but if you must know, my brother and I didn't always have the best of relationships." Korra scoffed. Of course she knew. "I was always a better bender than him. When my anger fueled my bending, the need to always be better than him was the reason I bent fire so fiercely."

Korra kept quiet as she looked at her normally stoic and unmoving mentor in a new light. Azula had a faraway look on her face. "After the war, he took me back. I tried to kill him. I helped to burn down the nations, and he took me back and tried to make me good. Tried to make me better. No one had genuine faith in me like he did. Not my mentors, not even my parents. But he did, so my purpose became making him proud. Proving him right." She turned to Korra again. "So you see, pupil. It doesn't take one strong emotion or another to fuel your inner flame. Once you understand what makes you burn, what you're  _meant_  to do and  _why_  you do it, then  _perhaps_ you will figure out how to unlock the potential to produce blue flames. But only you can achieve that on your own."

Korra looked at her hands and wondered if she'd ever have the power it took to produce such a fire as Master Azula's. Azula, on the other hand, knew that Korra had the potential to one day unlock a skill such as blue flames, though she would never admit it to her young pupil out loud. Even so, the thought bothered her. "I need you to promise me something, pupil."

Korra looked up confused, but nodded. "If by any chance you do happen to unlock the skill...you must promise not to use it unless in dire need. At least until I can return to re-train you."

Korra was even more confused. "What? Why? Why would I need to be re-trained."

"Have you heard nothing I said?!" Azula yelled angrily. "You have no understanding, no comprehension, about what it means to bend fire so powerful!" Azula took a deep breath. "You may one day have the skill, pupil, but you will never truly master it until you understand that fire is life...but it is also  _death_. When your fire burns brighter and hotter than the rest, can you stop yourself from hurting...from killing...your enemies or even those you care about?"

Azula turned away again, leaving Korra to contemplate this new found knowledge. "Take it from someone who knows, pupil. "Restraint may be the hardest and most important lesson you'll ever learn."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Korra waited anxiously as Pabu chewed through their ropes. She could hear the explosions happening above her and she was angry that at the moment she was powerless to stop them.

"It's okay, Pabu, just a little explosion." Bolin began clicking to Pabu nervously. "Keep chewing, you're almost through it."

A few seconds later, Pabu broke through the rope and freed them. "Yes! Great job, buddy."

Korra immediately jumped up and got onto the water she iced over. "I'm going after Amon."

"Be careful!" Mako yelled.

Korra immediately dove into the water and bent as much as she could into a water spout to propel herself up. Unfortunately, there was a limited amount of water in the pool. Korra's water spout was so strong, it took up all the water and once it was all gone, Korra felt herself falling.

Falling didn't even register to Korra. All that mattered was that Amon had just terrorized these people...and he was getting away. She couldn't let that happen. She wasn't going to fail again.

Without much thinking, Korra changed her body position, took a deep breath, and bent a stream of fire to propel herself forward. As soon as she was level with the chi blockers, she bent more fire at them before landing on their lifting pad. Korra looked up to see Amon staring at her as he was still being lifted onto the airship. She couldn't let him get away with this.

She stared into his eyes as he stared back and in blink of an eye, she let out a strong punch of flames. So strong, they came out blue. Despite her strong attack not damaging Amon, it still made an impact on the people around him a well as the airship itself.

Two chi blockers came down and kicked her off the pad and onto the roof. She landed on the glass hard but as she got up, she stared at her hands. Did she just bend  _blue_  fire? She quickly got her wits together as she faced off against the chi blockers. They were faster than her but she was stronger than them. She quickly faced off and disposed of two of the chi blockers before turning her attention to the more powerful soldier fighting Lin.

Korra sent out blast after blast of blue flames. She could feel the flames were stronger than the ones she normally bent as well as hotter. She quickly found that the flames came effortlessly to her. The true control lied in the strength of which she needed the flames. Korra knew she didn't want to kill these equalists, but it was as though her inner flame knew how much she hated them.

_Firebending is not fueled by anger._

_Firebending is not fueled by anger._

_Firebending is not fueled by anger._

Korra managed to maim the last equalist but a good kick caused her to land hard on the glass. Her distraction managed to give them enough time to escape on the airship. As she began to stand up, the glass below her started to crack before she fell through.

She let out a scream of surprise but then quickly readjusted herself.  _Deep breath…_

Korra positioned her body so that as she bent more flames, she was slowly lowered to the ground.

Mako and Bolin watched from the stands wide eyed. Never before had they seen bending like hers. The way the blue flames almost danced around her. It was much more beautiful than the harsh fires that Mako, or any other firebender they'd seen, were used to delivering. Even Tenzin was surprised as he stood next to them. He only ever knew of one person who could bend blue flames.

Tenzin looked up in awe. "Sometimes I forget what a powerful bender she could be."

As Korra landed safely on the ground, she looked at her hands. She closed her palms and opened it to see blue flames that she only ever saw Master Azula hold. Korra should've been proud. She unlocked a rare skill in her firebending. But all she could feel was shame. She knew exactly what unlocked it. Just as Master Azula had warned her, she let her anger for Amon, anger at her friends, and even her anger at herself dictate her. When she saw Amon, she wanted to see him  _dead._

_Fire is life...but it is also death._

"THAT WAS SO AWESOME!" yelled Bolin as her friends approached her. "How did you do that? Do you think you could teach Mako? We'd be so unstoppable in our matches…"

Korra ignored Bolin's excited rambling. It didn't matter that she could bend blue flames. She wouldn't be doing it again anytime soon.

_Unless in dire need..._


	5. Broken Trust

_"I'm going to teach you a hard lesson today, pupil." Korra looked at Azula with a raised eyebrow. A hard lesson? And the past lessons were what? Easy? "It's a lesson your precious Sifu Katara would never teach you."_

_At this, Korra's eyes widened but she had learned to stay silent for Azula to finish. "Your lesson is this:_ No one _will ever truly be there for you."_

_"Wha...what do you mean?" For once in her life, Korra felt scared. She depended on the people around her. And she just wasn't supposed to trust them anymore?_

_"Let me rephrase that," said Azula, barely skipping a beat. "Only you will truly know your best interests. Yes, there will be people who will support you and have your best interests at heart and whatever. But only_ you _will know what's good for you. You will have the final say and only you will know what is right in the end. No one else's opinion matters."_

_"Hang on! Didn't you have trust issues back in the day? You had that major breakdown!"_

_Azula rolled her eyes and sighed. "It's true. I may have lost focus pertaining to the people around me…" Azula said nonchalantly, as if banishing the entire castle staff or hallucinating that everyone was against her was normal. "But trusting the good in everyone is dangerous as well. Just ask your Sifu Katara about what happened in Ba Sing Se's catacombs." Azula said with a smirk almost reminiscent of her old days._

_Korra was still confused. "So what are you trying to say?"_

_"I just want you to understand, pupil. You can have all the support from all of your friends and family. They'll pour their hearts out to you. Tell you they love you or they care about you. But there will come a time in which they will doubt you. They'll doubt your confidence, your ability, and your reasoning. But in the end, what they say will not matter. It is your job as the Avatar to know what is right and what you must do. You can't just make decisions based on a bleeding heart like your predecessor or make decisions based on constant mistrust as I did. You must think for yourself."_

_Korra still wasn't sure that she understood everything Azula was trying to tell her but she nodded anyway._

_"One day, it'll all just come together, pupil. Now enough talk. Take your stance."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So maybe Asami was dating the guy she liked. And maybe the boys chose to live with her in her fancy mansion than on Air Temple Island. But Korra had to admit, Asami's choices in hobbies were pretty cool. Testing out Satomobiles in your own backyard? Talk about a rush.

"I gotta admit," Korra started as she took her helmet off. "I had you pegged wrong. I thought you were kinda prissy," she said sheepishly before looking back at Asami with wide eyes. "No offense!"

Asami just laughed. She had heard this all before. "It's alright. People usually assume I'm daddy's helpless little girl but I can handle myself." She stated proudly. "I mean I've been in self-defense classes since I was this high," she said as she placed a hand around her hip to indicate her height. "My dad made sure I would always be able to protect myself."

Korra smiled. "Smart guy."

Asami smiled back but soon her smile dropped a bit which Korra didn't fail to notice. "Can I ask you something, Korra?"

Korra just shrugged. "Sure."

A small amount of fear was reflected in Asami's eyes. "That new skill of yours…" Asami stopped. She didn't even know what she wanted to ask. She just knew that Korra's new acquired skill, while definitely cool and impressive, made her uneasy. "How...how are you with it?"

Korra's smile also fell. She didn't expect Asami to ask about her bending especially considering she wasn't a bender. She looked at her palms but didn't dare light them. "Umm...fine. I guess." Korra looked away from Asami and began rubbing a hand up and down her arm sheepishly. "Actually, I haven't bent fire since that night. I made a promise to an old sifu of mine. I just...I can't firebend right now." And even without her promise to Master Azula, Korra didn't know if she could firebend. The raw power she held without even trying when she bent the blue fire was thrilling, but frightening. If she had lost control that night...she couldn't bear to think on it.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." It was Asami's turn to feel sheepish. "It's just...when I was little, one of the triads broke into our home. A firebender killed my mother. When I watch matches it's always bender versus bender. But when you were fighting Amon's group...I don't know something about you firebending against them stirred up something…" Asami wasn't quite sure where she was going with what she was saying. "I guess I'm just afraid…?" She felt so weak especially saying that in front of the Avatar.

Korra placed a comforting hand on Asami's shoulder. "It's ok. I understand. Listen, I know I still lack the control I need, but I promise I would never hurt you. I'm not like other benders. We're friends, right?" she asked tentatively.

Asami smiled again. "Yeah, we're friends. I know you won't hurt me. I trust you."

Somehow hearing a friend put their trust in her meant a lot to Korra.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mako and Asami stared wide eyed as Korra entered the mansion with Tenzin and Chief Beifong in tow. Tenzin and the chief didn't even stop to greet them as they walked passed heading for Mr. Sato's office.

Korra was going to pass them by as well but Mako stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "What's going on? Why are they are they asking Hiroshi more questions?"

Korra looked back and forth between Asami and Mako before answering. "I overheard him on the phone yesterday." She turned to look at Asami, afraid of how her next words would affect the heiress. "Asami…I don't know how to tell you this but I think your father might be involved with the equalists."

It didn't take long for anger to rage within Asami. "What?! I don't believe this!"

Even Mako got angry with her. "You  _spied_  on Hiroshi?! What's your problem?!"

"I…"

They didn't even let her finish. "How could you, Korra? My father is innocent. Just because we're not benders…"

It was Korra's turn to interrupt. "It's not because you're not benders! I know what I heard yesterday! He said the Cabbage Corp investigation bought him time and he was getting ready to strike!"

Mako shook his head, ready to go to his girlfriend's defense. "You don't know what you're talking about, Korra!"

Asami's glare never wavered but she did speak at a lower volume. "I  _trusted_  you. I poured my heart out to you yesterday about my mom and you knew my reservations about powerful benders." Asami shook her head. "You said you wouldn't hurt me. That you weren't like other benders. But maybe...maybe you are." And with that she turned to go after her dad, Mako trailing right behind her.

Deep down Korra knew she had been trained for something like this to occur. That moment when she'd feel all alone because of the choices she made. At the very least, Master Azula warned her about such a time. But standing at the bottom of the stairs, her friends angry with her, her duty heavy on her shoulders...Korra didn't think any amount of training would prepare her for the loneliness that came with the Avatar's responsibilities.


End file.
